Faculty of Health and Well Being, Sheffield Hallam University, UK.
*Corresponding Author: Wincent Anthony, 104 Sharrow Lane, Sheffield, S11 8AL, UK, Ph no: +447912361410, E-mail: vincentpt1@gmail.com.
To review the recent research on effectiveness of Physiotherapy Management for Cervicogenic headache patients.
The computerised search of CINAHL (1982 to may 2006), EMBASE (1988 to may 2006), MEDLINE (1988 to may 2006), Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trails (issue 3, 2006), AMED (1988 to may 2006) and Physiotherapy Evidence Database (1980 to may 2006) was conducted.
Studies which include patients with Cervicogenic Headache of all age group, both gender, of all duration are considered.
Any one of intervention or combinations of Physiotherapy was included. These are manipulation, exercise, manual therapy, posture modifications, soft tissue techniques etc.
Atleast one or more of the following outcome measures had to be considered for inclusion in this review i.e., Headache frequency, Intensity and Duration, Northwick Park Neck Pain Questionnaire, Medication usage, Neck Pain Disability Index, Visual Analogue Scale.
Quality scores of 11 studies which met inclusion are 5 RCT's and 6 case studies (qualitative studies) which ranged from 2 to 9 with average of 6.6 and 5 to 9 with average of 5.6 respectively.
The review and best evidence synthesis of all the 11 studies from 1990 to 2005 revealed that physiotherapy which includes manipulation and exercise as combination for treatment of cervicogenic headache might be effective. However, further large, well-controlled, randomised trials are required in order attain definitive results.
Physiotherapy, cervicogenic headache, manipulation, exercise
